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What size to buck?

Started by Qweaver, March 16, 2017, 08:07:10 PM

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Qweaver

We are felling 5 acres of a clear cut that will become a food plot.  Lots of poplar, 16" Virginia pine, oak and various other size and types.  We do not have an immediate use for the logs and are unsure how long to buck the logs.  I'm thinking 10' and 16' or just what the log will best give us.  Terrain is a little rough/hilly and it may be scary with a fully loaded TLB 110 trying to turn over. I regularly carry 5000 lb logs around the level saw yard---whole different thing up on those hill sides. :o  Suggestions?  I know we could skid them and we will have a dozer on site to help but I just hate the thought of muddy logs on the WM.
So Many Toys...So Little Time  WM LT28 , 15 trailers, Case 450 Dozer, John Deere 110 TLB, Peterson WPF 10",  AIM Grapple, Kubota 2501 :D

Magicman

My recommendation is 12's & 16's and as you reach the top, you probably will have some 8's and maybe some 10's.

Reason; a 12' can be shortened to 10' and a 16" will always make two 8'.  Buck everything 6" over length.

I personally would not buck anything over 16' unless there was a known need.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

cuznguido

Can you rig up a water hose to wash your logs before loading them on the mill?  It would pay for itself in blades pretty quickly.

WV Sawmiller

Quint,

   If you can handle them 21' gives you lots of flexibility. Can cut 8 & 12 or 2-10's. If you have to cut some 16's out of them you can either saw the 4' leftover for short boards or stickers. JMHO. Good luck.

   Kind of like cutting 2X12's for stock where the log permits. Can always rip them to 2X4s, 2X6 or a 2X8 & a 2X4.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Brucer

When I was sawing for a timber frame business, they had a couple of loads of logs come in that had to be dropped in an inconvenient location. These were in the 44' to 52' range. The owner sent his guys out to buck them into lengths that his forklift could manage -- he told them to try for 20 footers, figuring they could be cut down later. That was a mistake.

First off, it didn't seem to occur to his workers that cutting two 20 footers out of a 44 foot log was kind of wasteful.

Second, it seems that a 20 foot log doesn't give you as many options for bucking into short lengths as, say, a 24 foot log.

So, having said all that, if you can handle the longer logs, you might want to start with longer lengths that you can still handle, and buck them up to shorter lengths later.

I hate skidding logs through the mud, too, but if I have to I try to lift one end as high in the air as I can so just a short length is getting dirty.
Bruce    LT40HDG28 bandsaw
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

Qweaver

Washing logs adds a lot of time to the processing and we work off of rainwater in tanks.  My saw yard does set right beside a river but with a 20' lift from water to saw yard level.  These logs are being cut an hour and a half from my saw yard...so we will probably  move the saw to the site if we saw and they use a spring as their water supply.  Again a river is handy.   But adds a lot of time to the process.  He will also have another 10 acres of right away logs shortly.  Good logs...I hate to lose them.
So Many Toys...So Little Time  WM LT28 , 15 trailers, Case 450 Dozer, John Deere 110 TLB, Peterson WPF 10",  AIM Grapple, Kubota 2501 :D

Kbeitz

Sounds like you need a cable crane and a mobile yarder.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

kensfarm

Do you have a trailer you can pull w/ the tractor?  Terrain too ruff, steep? 



 

Treehack

If there are any smaller, less desirable trees you are taking down, could you cut a couple of them up and build a skidding sled?  That way it would keep the log up off the mud and the sled would do all the skidding.
TK 1220, 100+ acres of timber, strong left arm.

WV Sawmiller

   I amend my suggestion to follow Brucer's 24' (I'd think 25 for trim on each) as even more options to buck to smaller lengths as needed if you can handle them that size. I have blinders on as even a 20' log is hard for me to handle with my limited and undersized equipment and forget have bigger and better MHE for such. Good luck.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Magicman

Remembering also that (unless bucked shorter) a log will only saw out what the top end yields.  I love logs that have only a 1" and sometimes 0" taper.   ;D

I have a Cherry job scheduled for Monday and the customer sent me pictures.  He had them bucked to 16'+.  After talking about taper, he went back and bucked them to 8'.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Rougespear

We bucked at 29'... made real nice for 2x 14', a 12' and 16', etc.  It was a little on the long side, and our terrain was solid but close quarters, with good loading equipment.  29' was about all I could fit on the 20' flat deck for the 1/5 mile trip home.  It all depends what you want from the logs: 12-14' is a real nice length to saw, but as others have mentioned, be wary of sawing a 16' only to cut the boards in half after... lots is wasted to taper (depending if there is much).
Custom built Cook's-style hydraulic bandmill.

Ron Wenrich

We bucked to 24' plus trim on logs we didn't have a ready home.  It gave us lots of options, especially from a grade standpoint.  The log truck handled them just fine.
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Qweaver

We are working in very rough WV hill sides.  OK yesterday when the ground was mainly frozen...impossible today when  the ground was slick red clay.  We just had to give up and wait until we have some dry or frozen ground.  The right of way fellers just felled it all over the roads and we are going to have to use the dozer to get most of them clear of the mess.  Why would they do that?  Lots of good saw logs in there tho'  We have the TLB hung up several times and finally had to just give up.   Maybe better next week. We decided to get them as long as we could handle. 
So Many Toys...So Little Time  WM LT28 , 15 trailers, Case 450 Dozer, John Deere 110 TLB, Peterson WPF 10",  AIM Grapple, Kubota 2501 :D

Bert

X2 on 24'. You cant go wrong. Thats my go to on big trees til I have a home for them. Not much to lose.

Saw you tomorrow!

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